Government boosts estimates of corn, soybean crops

ST. LOUIS — The government predicted that corn and soybean reserves will be higher than initially estimated, easing some concerns about rising food prices.

The U.S. Agriculture Department predicted Thursday that there will be about 123.1 million metric tons of corn left over after this year’s harvest. That’s up from an estimated 122.5 metric tons in last month’s report.

There should be about 58.3 million metric tons of soybeans left over, compared with last month’s estimate of 58.2 million.

The new estimates should drive crop prices lower in coming weeks as traders worry less about tighter reserves, said John Sanow, a commodity analyst with Telvent DTN in Omaha, Neb.